My fav trope-enemies to lovers comes through loud and clear in this one! I went into it blind other than seeing raves for it on social media, and it didn’t disappoint. And the steam factor was mucho caliente!
Lina and Aaron had great chemistry and this was filled with sexual tension in the office and Aaron was way more patient with Lina than I would have been. I loved the charity fundraiser scene. It was my fav part of the book!
Lina and Aaron have been working together for years and when Lina needs a date for her sister’s wedding in Spain and Aaron needs a date for a fundraiser, they decide to make a deal to be each other’s boyfriend/girlfriend so they don’t have to deal with the drama from friends and family about being single. In the process, they fall for each other of course, and have to figure out how it is also going to work, especially for Lina, who has been burned by a relationship with a colleague in the past.
This was fun and spicy and I would give it 3.5 stars if I could, but since I can’t I rounding down because it was a little too long.
Thanks to the author and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Your typical contemporary romance! It was cute and I enjoyed it.
Pros. Aaron blackford.
To be honest, I didn’t love Catalina. I found her rude and didn’t care for her.

Aaron and Lina are some of my favorite characters in romance. I read this when it originally came out in 2021 and LOVED it. I'm excited to see Atria pick this up and reissue it and then also for them to publish The American Roommate Experiment later this year. I enjoyed picking this up again and reading the Atria version, all of the important elements of the story are still there, they've just been able to give it the editing it needed, as the story was little long in its original Amazon form. Overall, Aaron and Lina are still my favorites and I could keep reading about them forever.

I loved the first half of this book and expected it to be a solid 5-star read when I started it, but ultimately, went on far too long for a romance book and fell a little flat by the end.

I really enjoyed the fake dating and enemies to lovers aspect of the romance. Aaron was the best book boyfriend. However the book was a good 100 pages too long.

This romance novel was not for me. I felt the characters were underdeveloped and, while I enjoy a good romance trope like anyone else, this novel felt like a compilation of every trope under the sun jammed into one book. Sorry, but it's a pass for me. Too cheesy and predictable.

Aaron is such an amazing dreamy book boyfriend that he goes ahead of all of his competitors in this space. It is perfect for those who enjoy these tropes - enemies to lovers, workplace romance and pretend relationship all rolled into one sweet package over here. Catalina and her family along with her community bring in great fun and happiness in the plot. This one was popular in booktok and I normally don't enjoy those recommendations but this was absolutely delightful.

Well, well, well! Finally I had a chance to meet with the famous Aaron Blackford! The full charisma, charm and pouring sweetness is dangerous combination: that’s the recipe of dreamy book boyfriend to devour at one sit! I’m game!

There are so many alluring and tempting elements in this book that attract the devoted romance fans like me ;
Examples:
Pretending lovers and enemies to lovers troupe meet love at workplace with sarcastic, laugh out loud banters that making you spitting out any kind of refreshment ( mine was cosmo-homemade- I’m not good cook but a mean mixologist) you’ve been drinking!

A wedding ceremony- genuine-prying- loveliest Spanish family members!

Extra sexual attraction and blowing chemistry between Aaron and Lina!

Honest approach to characters’ emotional baggages

Very vivid, fiery, determined, powerful heroine and caring, mature, patient, compassionate hero you easily adore!

Did I mention Aaron was one of the best book boyfriend who deserves your big applause!

Great angsty moments and powerful gesture formula is well developed and smartly matched with lovely epilogue.

Normally I would give five stars but I didn’t like some dialogues during the intimate scenes and opening of the book was way too slow burn and repetitive ( Aaron keeps trying to help Lina to fix her wedding participation problem as Lina keeps rejecting him) and Lina’s inner monologues were too long even though they were extremely funny.

I just wanted to get to the chase and see that amazing couple’s HEA!

So I’m rounding up 3.5 stars to 4 by slapping my head for waiting too long to read this enjoyable rom-com sooner stars!

I already pre-ordered the next book of the author which will be released on September. The blurb is so promising!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

What a debut novel by Elena Armas! The Spanish Love Deception was SOOOO GOOD, it was an easy 5 stars! After having read it a while ago and just now writing the review, the main things that I still remember and took away from this book was Catalina’s hilariously over involved (but loving) family, the angst and banter between Catalina and Aaron, and their sparkling chemistry! I loved reading Catalina and Aaron’s progression from coworkers who barely made eye contact to lovers. The steam and sexual tension was perfection. I enjoyed every page of the story and even though this book is on the longer side, I was so sad when it ended.

If The Spanish Love Deceptions isn’t on your TBR add it ASAP!

This was a lot more slow paced than I thought but was SO cute and lived up to the BookTok hype for sure -- gave me Unhoneymooners vibes by Christina Lauren but with less miscommunications and much more at stake. All of the stars!!!

I loved this book! It was a great story line and I really enjoyed the characters. Enemies to lovers is my favorite and I enjoyed visualizing the pining that was going on.

This slow burn romance is so good! While it does get redundant, the sizzling chemistry of the two main characters is fabulous!

Easily one of my favorite reads of 2022 so far ! This was the perfect slow burn romance with allll the good tropes : enemies to lovers , office romance , and fake dating . I loved the banter and the chemistry between Lina and Aaron . If you love any of these tropes , read this book ! Lina and Aaron work at the same company - and hate each other . Ever since she overheard him saying something rude about her , she's been prickly right back at him . So imagine her surprise when she needs a date to her sister's wedding and Aaron offers to be her fake boyfriend to get her family off her back . Even though he's the last guy she'd ever date , it's an offer she can't refuse . I loved these two SO freaking much . Lina and Aaron banter in the most entertaining way , and I loved the slow progression of their actual friendship and romance as they are forced to get to know each other better to pass off their fake relationship to Lina's family . Even though Aaron seems like he's got a stick up his ass , you can see the way he softens with Lina and is so tender with her . There are so many little moments that show how much he really cares about her and that Lina's perception of Aaron has been wrong since the beginning . And even though it's slow burn , Elena Armas doesn't hold back with the steam ! My heart was so happy reading this romance . I loved it so much . TSLD was a fantastic debut and I'm already dying to read more from Elena !

OMG, I loved this book soooooo much! "A new round of, Will Lina die of nerves and anticipation tonight?" The banter, the family, the love, ALL of it! I loved Catalina's career, how awesome to see that in a book for a woman's career! I listened to this audio book and the narrator had a Spanish accent which made me love it even more and genuinely made it feel real! I really didn't think I could like an author as much as Colleen Hoover, but I do, Elena nailed it! Off to find another one of her books!

I thought this was a really great debut novel. The building of tension was great and I liked the chemistry between Aaron and Lina. My only complaint is this felt too long for a romance and felt like it dragged at times. However I still really enjoyed it and will definitely be picking up her next book!

This was cute but I didn’t find it as memorable as some other recent reads in this genre. I did love reading about Spain and this family.

Elena Armas’s debut novel introduces readers to Lena, a woman working in STEM who has been burned by public relationships in the past. When she needs a date to take to her sister’s wedding (WHO IS MARRYING HER EX’S BROTHER!) she makes a deal with her hotter than hot coworker, Aaron Blackford to perform a Spanish Love Deception, tricking everyone back home in Spain into believing that Lena is more than happy with her life in the US.

There are some definite pacing issues in the book as it takes a long time to actually get to Spain, but by the time Lena and Aaron finally get together, it’s largely worth the wait. The one glaring complaint was that Aaron’s blue eyes were described like a million times—maybe it’s me, but if Lena kept talking about swimming in his ocean eyes, I was going to find an actual ocean to push her into.

The pieces of the plot all tie together nicely with the third act break-up making sense and having been planted early on.

Thanks to NetGalley and Altria for the ARC!

The Spanish Love Deception is an enemies-to-lovers, fake dating romance by Spanish writer Elena Armas. Lina Martin will be traveling from New York to Spain a few weeks for her sister's wedding and she needs a date for her sister's wedding. Her family is convinced that she has not moved on since her last relationship and she made the mistake of telling them that she has a boyfriend even though she doesn't. When Aaron, her workplace nemesis, overhears her conversation about her predicament, he offers to go to the wedding with her. Eventually, with no other options, Elena agrees to this strange fake dating arrangement. As the pair navigate the crazy antics of her family and the wedding festivities, it's clear to them that their deception is leading to discovery of romantic feelings for one another.

I loved this book from the very beginning! Elena Armas jumps right into the story, giving readers a sense of how intense Lina's hatred for Aaron is and it had me laughing out loud. Armas' writing is clever and I found myself constantly amused by the characters' witty banter. Her detailed imagery brought the scenes to life. Armas took her time developing each scene and the story and I appreciated that.

This is a slow burn romance and Lina and Aaron's relationship morphs naturally from enemies to friends and then to lovers. I loved the tension build up between the two and how little moments gave us hints of their romantic feelings for one another. When Lina and Aaron finally admit that they want more than their fake relationship, it is sizzling and fiery.

And Aaron - OH AARON!!! I fell in love with him from the very beginning, despite Lina's hatred for him! Everything he said to Lina turned me to complete mush. He was so thoughtful, sweet, and he knew exactly what to say. His flirty comments had me swooning. I was so pleasantly surprised that straight-laced and serious Aaron turned out to be a dirty talker!

This is a must-read romantic comedy that I highly recommend!

Steam level: 🔥🔥🔥
⚠️: misogyny

4.5 stars
Quite cheesy, but I love cheese
The hype is real!
Sometimes when books get super popular I’m too worried to read them, but this did not disappoint.
I thought Aaron was sweet and hot. Catalina could be boring, but I liked learning about her home.
Overall, very fun!

This book was quick entertaining book. Makes you believe love is possible. All the warm fuzzies made me love this book. A fake date that turns to real love and they have so much chemistry together.